## Facts

- Robert Tombs submitted an OPRA request to the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA) seeking a digital copy of the Authority’s GIS topographic mapping data in .DWG format.
- BTMUA denied the request for the digital GIS data and took the position that the data should not be released while it was being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
- BTMUA had voluntarily submitted the GIS data to DHS for review and treatment as protected critical infrastructure information under the federal Critical Infrastructure Information Act (CIIA), 6 U.S.C. §§ 131–134.
- Tombs argued OPRA must be read in favor of public access, that the records custodian bears the burden to prove an exemption, and that BTMUA could not delay an OPRA dispute by sending the data to DHS.
- Tombs filed a denial-of-access complaint, and the dispute was heard as a contested case at the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (OAL) under Docket No. GRC06786-04S.
- The OAL issued an interlocutory order staying the matter while DHS completed its review.
- DHS later sent BTMUA a letter stating the GIS data constituted protected critical infrastructure information that must be safeguarded under the CIIA.

## Issues

1. Whether the OAL could stay an OPRA contested case pending DHS review of the requested GIS data.
2. Whether DHS’s determination that the GIS data was protected critical infrastructure information barred disclosure under OPRA.

## Decision

- The OAL granted an interlocutory stay pending DHS’s review and response regarding the submitted GIS data.
- After DHS advised that the GIS data was protected critical infrastructure information subject to safeguarding under the CIIA, the OAL treated the federal protection as a basis to withhold the requested digital GIS data from disclosure under OPRA.
- The effect of the OAL proceeding was that Tombs did not obtain the requested digital GIS dataset.

## Legal Principles

- OPRA favors access, but a public agency may withhold records when another law— including federal law—requires confidentiality.
- A tribunal handling an OPRA contested case may issue a stay when an external federal determination bears directly on whether an exemption applies.
- Information accepted by DHS as protected critical infrastructure information under the CIIA is subject to federal safeguarding requirements that restrict public release.
- An agency’s voluntary submission of information to DHS, followed by DHS’s protected-status determination, can supply the legal basis for non-disclosure of that specific information under OPRA.

## Conclusion

In *Tombs v. Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority*, the OAL stayed an OPRA dispute while DHS reviewed the Authority’s voluntarily submitted GIS topographic mapping data, and after DHS advised the data was protected critical infrastructure information under the CIIA, the proceeding resulted in non-disclosure of the requested digital GIS data.


Tombs v. Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority, Docket No. GRC06786-04S (2005)